In honor of the first major snowfall of 2011, alumni went to www.facebook.com/amherstcollege to share their best winter memories from the Fairest College. Our favorites:

“Foodfight in East in 1970 which was generated by the serving of subpar Chicken a la King and attitudes spawned by meteorological incarceration. The Harlan Fiske Stone portrait required professional restoration. The progenitor(s) washed chairs every day for the ensuing academic year.”

—John Lacey '73

“No matter how deep the snow fell, early in the morning there would be one set of footprints ... angling across the green. As of lunchtime, there was a very narrow track made up of footprints in footprints. By dinnertime, that narrow track had expanded into a full-fledged trail. Weeks later, as the snow melted and revealed the underlying green, you could see that that original trail breaker had exactly followed the timeworn track across the green.”

—John Powell ’74

“I remember walking to class in Johnson Chapel from across the quad. I wanted to take a shortcut. The incline up from the grassy area was too slippery with snow, and I kept sliding backwards. After many tries I gave up and walked around. When I finally made it to class I was cheered on by 20 or so students who had all been watching me through the window.”

—Katherine Kim ’87

“4/1/97—A local media outlet declared that Amherst College was closed. I slept in and puttered around only to find that we indeed had classes. Oops. Then I spent the rest of the day pulling an April Fool’s prank on my roommate, clearing him out of the dorm room and setting his stuff up exactly the same way in the Moore common area.”

—Chris Webb ’99

“I remember the beauty of icicles hanging from the eaves of all the buildings and the exhilarating terror of trying to dodge them while entering and exiting doors.”